At 1:35p.m. today, a white vehicle traveling on Fowler Avenue and 50th Street started to smoke as the driver pulled off the road. No sooner did the driver jump out of his car and cross through passing traffic, did the vehicle become engulfed in flames.

As a bystander at Einstein bagels at the local plaza, I took the pictures located below. Within about 10 minutes more than half of the vehicle was consumed in bright yellow and orange flames with tunnels of black smoke shooting into the air.

Emergency services arrived fairly quickly. Within about 3-5 minutes of the initial flames, police were behind the car. I was disappointed with the way the police handled the situation. They did not try and stop traffic or close down a lane. It is understandable that fire rescue was on its way, as well as a tow truck; but this could have escalated very quickly into a serious event. Passing cars could have gas leaking from their vehicle which could have caused a larger fire to occur. Winds could have picked up and pushed some of the thick flames onto passing vehicles. It was during a high traffic time, as Fowler Avenue is always busy, but I felt better precautions should have put into place.

Fire rescue arrived about 20 minutes into the event and had the flames under control and extinguished within about 5 minutes. After the vehicle was towed, the location where the car was is still torched.